This invention relates generally to a toy formed by a plurality of pivotally connected segments, and more particularly to a therapeutic hand toy that may be twisted into an infinite variety of useful and decorative structures.
Stresses, injuries and health issues are an everyday part of life. In today's fast-paced, hectic world, stress-related illnesses and injuries are more prevalent than the common cold. We all face it, but how we deal with it makes the difference between being healthy and being sick.
The hands are particularly sensitive to the many stresses associated with daily life. However, the hands are also a major source of stress relief. Aromatherapy lotions, hand massages and squishy stress relief figures assist in relieving overall stress and may provide a small degree of strengthening and conditioning to the hand, fingers and joints.
In addition to stress, people with musculoskeletal impairment of the hand and wrist are subject to loss of basic manipulative functions essential to carrying out daily activities. Such a loss can be disheartening, debilitating and sometimes incapacitating since it may lead to the reliance on the assistance and care from others. Studies have shown that clinically controlled exercise is important for restoring or maintaining hand function. While it is possible to motivate patients in a clinical environment to do hand exercises, long-term post-clinical enforcement of a therapeutic program is rarely achieved.
Hence, there is a need for a therapeutic toy that is manipulated by the hand and fingers for improving and rehabilitating hand and finger muscle performance, restoring joint and range of hand motion while at the same time providing both stress relief and hours of enjoyment. It is desirable to provide such a therapeutic hand toy that may be manipulated between the fingers and the palm to provide relief from daily stresses as well as strengthening and conditioning for rehabilitating and preventing minor injuries to the hand, fingers and wrist. Such a toy would provide hours of enjoyment and therapeutic aid by keeping the brain engaged, stimulated and interested in a textured toy that can be twisted into a multitude of patterns, shapes and textures.